So the end of our first week with Venn rolls by and what do we know now that we didn’t PV (pre-Venn)?
Well, there was good and (in the language of positive reinforcement) there was not quite so good.
On the positive side, Venn continues to do very well on the house training front (although she was good when she arrived so we can’t take much credit for that), is getting on very well with Kip and has got used to her collar. The socialisation has been going well, and we have done a number of trips out; she shows no interest in livestock, and has enjoyed meeting lots of people.
She is very inquisitive, and at a time when the books say she should be clingy and following me around like a shadow, she is off exploring the garden. Those of you who remember "Michael Bentine’s Potty Time” may be familiar with how the rustling in the tips of the flower bed shrubs indicate the action going on below. We have had a lead attached to get used to how it feels, a brief panic when we hit full length, and did a nice little bit of walking today.
On the not-quite-as positive front are the issue of food and commands.
The issue of food Or, more accurately the lack of interest in it. On the day we picked her up we witnessed her creating a fuss because it was meal time, chowing down into a big bowl of puppy kibble and clearing the lot in short order. However, and despite us having a bag of food from the breeder, this interest has faded over the week. I was told I was over-analysing it until the day when she essentially didn’t eat anything when J conceded that it might be an issue. We have tried pepping it up with scrambled egg or soft food pouches but it didn’t make a difference. A suggestion was made that, unless the dog was clearly ill (she isn’t; she remains happy and full of energy) then we shouldn’t mess with her core meals too much; she will eat when she is hungry. If she learns that if she holds out then something more tasty will arrive, then we will make a rod for our own backs. Another suggestion was that we should put down and take up her meals at the allotted times, even if she has not eaten it.
For me the biggest problem with this is trying to find a training reward that she is interested in. We have tried roast chicken, roast pork, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, liver cake, black pudding, sausage. Nothing really piqued her interest unless there is absolutely nothing else to see or do. Without a good reward, the training will be problematic. There is not much help in my books or online. “All puppies like food” was one of the more unhelpful statements, “use a favourite toy” was more promising, but ultimately unsuitable advice for the stage that requires high repetitions to establish behaviour, or associate a behaviour and a command.
The issue of commands It was a problem we anticipated, but it was still quick shocking to see how quickly a command can lose its effect through misuse. Misuse in a well-meaning way, to be fair, but misuse that is likely to be repeated in a place full of new guests wanting to meet the dogs.
The training guides make much of establishing the behaviour, then associating the behaviour with the command (e.g. saying sit once the dog has sat down, to make it associate the word with the position) before ever trying to use it as a command. If the dog is given the command before she understands what is required, then she can easily associate the word with other actions, or filter it out as unimportant. By starting to train using common words like “sit” or “come” we leave ourselves wide open to interference in the learning process by B&B visitors who want to say hello. By the middle of the week we had established a functional if not completely robust response to "sit". It has all but ceased to work by today, and the more the command is used with no effect, the more I reinforce the “optional” nature of the instruction.
Once we find some means of motivating Venn, we will need to start over using words unlikely to be used as commands by visitors.
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